Disk type mower



April 20, 1954 w. s. BARNARD 2,675,660

DISK TYPE MOWER Filed Feb. 15, 1951 s Sheets-Sheet 1 William 5. Barnardmmvrox.

April 20, 1954 w, s. BARNARD 2,675,650

DISK TYPE MOWER Filed Feb. 15, 1951 .5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 4 4s 52 IWilliam 5. Barnard J 7;] '72 INVENTOR.

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April 20, 1954 w. s. BARNARD DISK TYPE MOWER 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb.15 1951 Willi/1m 5. Barnard INVENTOR.

Patented Apr. 20, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE William S. Barnard,Bellevue, Nebr.

Application February 15, 1951, Serial No. 211,115

This invention relates to a combination mower, lawn cleaner and snowremover, a machine having certain portions which bear a fixed positionalrelationship to each other, certain other portions which are adjustable,and certain other portions which are selectively securable in operativepositions on the machine, all designed to allow conversion of themachine to the above-named uses.

The objects of this invention include the provision of a machine of thecharacter above mentioned and characterized by a tiltable bed platewhich is pivotally adjustable about an horizontal axis and carried bythe base of the machine, this bed plate being equipped with a driveshaft capable of being drivingly connected with a motor on the base ofthe machine and capable of carrying a rotary blade element, whereby sucha rotary blade can be driven when disposed in both vertical andhorizontal planes, according to the positioning of the bed plate, itbeing assumed that the base of the machine will ordinarily besubstantially horizontal.

Another object of this invention, ancillary to the preceding object, isto provide a casing on the bed plate when the same is'in verticalposition, this casing encompassing the rotary blade element and makingthe machine suitable for use as a snow remover.

Yet another object of this invention, equally important with thepreceding objects, is to provide a suction chamber removably securableto the front of said rotary blade element casing, so that the machine isconverted into a lawn cleaner,

Yet another object of this invention is to provide means to hold the bedplate in horizontal position, and to provide for suitable driveconnection for the above-mentioned shaft when the bed plate is in thishorizontal position, so that a suitable blade may be secured to thelower end of the shaft and the machine used as a grass cutter, a casterbeing secured to the front edge of the bed plate, if desired.

An object of this invention is to provide means whereby each of theabove-mentioned functions can be made readily available, the stepsnecessary to transform the machine for the different functions beingextremely simple and easily carried out by persons of no greatmechanical ability.

A last object to be mentioned specifically is to provide a machine ofthis character which is relatively inexpensive and practicable tomanufacture, which is safe, convenient and simple to operate, and whichwill give generally efficient and durable service.

With these objects definitely in View, this invention resides in certainnovel features of construction,-'combination and arrangement of elementsand portions as will be hereinafter described in detail in thespecification, particularly pointed out in the appended claim, andillus- 1 Claim. (Cl. 56-25.4)

p 2 trated in the accompanying drawings which form a material part ofthis application, and in which:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view, showing thearrangement of the elements of the machine when the same is used asalawn cleaner;

Figure 2 is a reduced side elevational view of the machine when the sameis adapted for use as a grass cutter;

Figure 3 is a top planview of the structure shown in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a front end view of the structure shown in Figure 2;

, Figure 5 is an enlarged longitudinal vertical sectional view takensubstantially. on the line 5--5 in Figure 3; l V

Figure 6 is a reduced fragmentary side elevational view of the machine,as used as a lawn cleaner; 7

Figure 7 is a reducedfront .end view of the structure illustrated inFigures 1 and 6; and

Figure 8 is a reduced front end view of the machine when the rotaryblade element casing is secured to the bed plate, the latter being invertical position, and the above-mentioned suction chamber being removedfrom this casing so that the machine is adapted for use as a snowremover.

Similar characters of reference designate similar or identical elementsand portions throughout the specification and throughout the differentviews in the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, this invention includes anambulant-frame or base,

generally indicated at In, and comprising a base plate 1 2 carryingaligned bearings I4, in which is supported axle structure [6 forground-contacting wheels i8. Reinforcing structure, represented by theangle iron 20, will be welded or otherwise secured to the periphery ofthe plate l2 and on the underside thereof, and the plate 12 will have anarcuate recess 22 on what should be considered the front edge of theplate, this recess being best illustrated in Figures 1 and 3. A bedplate 24, which is tiltable with reference to-the base plate [2, ishinged as indicated at 25 on the front end portion of the base. It willbe noted that the bed plate 24 is circular, and that portion of the bedplate between the hinges 25 extends into the arcuate recess 22 when thebed plate is coplanar with the base plate [2. The bed plate 24 will alsohave a reinforcing angle iron member 26 on the underside thereof, and atthe periphery thereof, and this element 26 has a secondary function insupporting the rotary blade element casing 82, hereinafter referred tomore particularly. It will also be noted that the part of the bed plateentering the recess 22 is of such a diameter that the lower end thereofwill not touch the ground when the bed plate is in vertical position, asclearly indicated in Figure l, the reference numeral 28 being applied tothe lower end of the bed plate when the same is in this verticalposition.

A bearing assembly 38 is mounted upon the bed plate 24, this bearingassembly including a tubular bearingblock 32 having attaching flanges34, upper and lower bearings 36 and 88, and these bearings support adrive shaft 40. One end of the drive shaft 40 is provided with a drivepulley' 42. A motor 46 of any suitable character is provided, this motorhaving a drive-shaft extending horizontally and the drive shaft 48carries a drive pulley 58. The motor 46 is supported on suitablesupporting bracket structure 52, upon the base plate 12, preferablysubstantially vertically above the axle structure l6.

Handle structure to make-the machine easily manipulated includesinclined bars 54, carrying a horizontal cross-bar or handle bar 56,while the opposite or lower end portions of the bars 54 are rigidlysecured in any manner to the base plate 12, as indicated at 58. Theforward ends of the elements 58 extend vertically upwardly from the baseplate I2, near the forward edge of the said base plate, and the upperends of the portions 68 incline upwardly as indicated at 82 forconnection .to intermediate portions of the bars 58.

When the machine is used as a grass cutter, the bed plate 24 is loweredinto coplanar relationship with the base plate l2, and bolts 64 areinserted through aligned apertured lugs 66 on the sides of the angleiron members 28 and 26. The blade 63 which comprises the actualgrasscutting element, represented in Figures 2, 4 and 5, is rigidlysecured to the lower end of the shaft 48, while a caster 78, mounted ona bracket 12 which is removably secured to a forward end portion of thebed plate 26, serves to maintain the machine against tilting about theaxle structure iii, in order that the blade 88 shall not be allowed tostrike the ground during the operation of the machine. It will also benoted that angle brackets 14 are removably secured to the upper surfaceof the base plate l2, and these angle brackets I4 carry an idler pulley76 which is used to change the direction of a belt 18 entrained over thepulleys 42 and 58.

When the device is used as a lawn cleaner, the elements 68-48 areremoved, and the bed plate 24 is shifted into the vertical positionindicated in Figures 1 and 6, the bolts 64 being withdrawn from theapertured lugs 66. A shorter belt 88 is now entrained on the pulleys 42and 58, and a bracket 81, shown in Figure 1, is used to secure the bedplate 24 to the upright portion 58, the main weight of the bed plate andparts carried thereby being still borne by the hinges 25. A rotary bladeelement casing 82, comprising simply a short tube of a diametersubstantially equal to the diameter of the angle iron flange 28, isaffixed to this flange 28, it being preferred that the casing 82 shallmerely have a tight fit upon the flange 28, although any suitablefastening means may be provided if desired or found necessary. A suctionchamber 84 is somewhat similarly secured to the front edge portion ofthe easing 82, although screws 85, as illustrated in Figure 6, may beused to secure the chamber 84 on the casing 82. The chamber 84 includesa vertical wall 85 closing the front of the casing 82 and also includesa second wall 88 extending upwardly to the top of an inlet opening 90 inthe wall 88, while the wall 88 curves outwardly into a transverselyelongated mouth 92. The casing 82 has a discharge spout 94, to which abag 96 may be secured by any suitable means for the collection of thecut grass and any trash gathered during the lawn cleaning process. Therotary blade element 98 will ordinarily be different from the rotaryblade element 68, in order that the two functions of a blower fan and acutter can be'accentuated, although it is conceivable that a generalfutility blade element could be used for both purposes, since the onlyrequirements would be a sharp edged blade having a considerable Ypitch.-

When the machine is used as a snow remover, thesuction chamber 84 isremoved from the easing 82, and the bag 96 will also be removed. Useof--the machine as-a snow-remover isillust'rated in' the front endelevation of the machine in Figure 8.

The operation of this machine will be understood from the foregoingdescription ofthe mechanical details thereof, taken; in connection withthe above recited objectsand the drawings. Furtherv description wouldappear to be unnecessary.

Minor modification of the machine, varying in minordetails from theembodiment-of the machine illustratedand described here, may be resortedto without departure from the spirit and scope of this invention, asdefined in the appended claim.

Having described the invention, what claimed as new is:

A- lawn mower comprising awheeled frame, said frame including a baseplate having a concave forward edge portion terminating at outer endsthereof in aligned straight portions, a bed plate, said bed plate beinggenerally circular inoutline and having a-rear edge portioncomplementary to said forward edge portion, said rear edge portionterminating in" straight aligned outer rear edge portions, hinge meansconnecting respective straight portions of said base plate and said bedplate whereby said bed plate may be selectively moved from 'a horizontalposition'to a vertical position, said base plate and said bed platehaving aligned side edges, cooperating disengageable latch means carriedby said side edges for retaining said bed plate in a horizontalposition, a rearwardly extending handle carried by said base plate, saidhandle including spaced parallel bars having vertical leg portions dis-'posed along said concave forward edge portion for abutting engagementwith said bed plate to facilitate the retention ofsaid bed plate in avertical position, a driven shaft extending vertically through said bedplate and rotatably journalled therein, a blade on the lower end of saidshaft, said blade being of a lesser diameter than the diameter of saidbed plate, a power unit including a drive shaft mounted on said baseplate, flexible drive means drivingly connecting said drive shaft andsaid driven shaft.

References Cited in the fileof this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS- NumberName Date 1,336,257 Muzzy -2 Apr. 6, 1920 1,577,561 Chiles Mar. 23, 19262,110,071 Pociecha Mar. 1, 1938 2,148,841 Senior Feb. 28, 1939 2,175,542Robarge Oct. 10,1939 2,476,526 Badlot July 19, 1949 2,538,643- Gregory sJan. 16,1951 2,556,790 Berdan June 12, 1 951

